Pro Range (Viking vs. Capital Culinarian)

jsmooveApril 14, 2013

I am looking to purchase a 36 pro range and I am looking at both the viking and the capital culinarian... can anyone give me some info on the new simmer burner with the capital? or some info on the viking range? thanks in advance

J: first off I have to ask, how did the list get narrowed down to these two units? They are very different. Different performance levels and very different looks.

On this particular website its going to be hard to find anyone who endorses viking. Most will cite the numerous posts about alleged troubles people have had with quality and customer service. Keep in mind however that most of these people citing the bad quality and cs on this forum have never owned a viking. Also keep in mind that viking sells a LOT of units. I remember reading somewhere that they sell as many or more than all the other pro style range manufacturers combined. I can also tell you that I have owned a viking in the past and it was completely trouble free for the three or four years or so that I had it. I am not making excuses for viking, I am only stating my own personal experience with them.

Having said all that....I personally wouldn't even think of a viking over a culinarian. I am not a huge fan of the exterior styling of the culinarian and exterior styling actually does mean a lot to me. However, the performance of the cooktop of a culinarian is in a different (much higher) league than viking. The only other brands in this league of performance are bluestar(which started this niche) and american range which is the most recent addition to the club. Another bonus about capital over viking is that if you are unfortunate enough to get a lemon, coming over here to this forum and voicing your problems will guarantee a resolution from capital. I don't think the same would apply to viking.

Following up on what jolb57 said, the corporation that bought Viking is the Middleby group. It owns 30 or so brands of commerical and pro-style appliances and food service equipment. The acquisition has left Viking in flux, and there may or may not be changes in product lines and support. Middleby's press releases say that they will be putting the company on a "fast track" to increase market share and profit margins. That sounds an awful lot like the strategy that got Viking into quality-control and warranty-support trouble in the first place.

Viking's reputation here is not quite as bleak as tyguy painted it, and there actually are a pretty fair number of Viking owners who have been pleased with their products. But for every one who posts about being pleased, there are numbers of very unhappy postings, too. I see the situation as being similar to what happened with GE fridges several years ago when GE outsourced production. GE fridges were running a 25% defect rate. While that means 75% of the customers did fine with their GE fridges, 25% had major problems. Who wants to buy something expensive with a 1 in 4 chance of it being lemon? GE warranty service started falling down, too, and that compounded the ire. Something similar happened to Viking except they were not doing much out-sourcing.. That is, they were shooting themselves in their feet rather than hiring somebody to do it for them. :>)

As for Capital's simmer burners, I think there have been some recent postings on that here. A search should turn them up.

I just purchased a CC but haven't taken delivery of it yet. Viking was on my list but I eliminated them for reliability reasons. Consumer Reports has a video that shows an electrical failure that they had with a unit they purchased so they purchased another. The second unit also had an electrical failure but different from the first. When I went to look at one at our local showroom I noticed that they were selling off the Viking line and replacing it with Thermador. That information in combination with everything else I read made me eliminate Viking. Good luck. It took me months to decide on which range to buy. I hope I made the right choice.

In response to gtadross and the bluestar... I did not like the star burner for heat distribution. the Capital Culinarian, in contrast, seemed to work better with the rings of heat on the large burners. I liked the Capital burners even more so than the Viking burners. does anyone have the new simmer burner from Capital? I am worried that the 23,000 BTUs are too much on high? if someone owns one, I would love to hear your opinion. thanks in advance

Heat distribution is a bs strong point. Not better than the culinarian but in the same league. If heat distribution is a factor to you, I find it very puzzling that you would consider a viking? How did the viking make it on to your short list?

' "23,000 BTUs are too much on high?" Say what? Think about it. You can turn it down to what you need. Nobody is going to come to your house and punish you for not cranking it all the way up. Also, if you have a suitably big pot of pasta water -- say a 12 quart or 20 quart stockpot --- is there really a problem with getting water boiling quicker?

Now, if the question is economics -- "do I really need to spend all this money on a stove with 23k-btu-hr burners?" --- well, that's something you need to figure out for yourself. If getting a big pot of water to boil in 13 minutes rather than 15 minutes is no big deal to you, if you don't care about the kinds of high heat searing and wokking that some folks do, wll then, you are on your way to answering your question.

I don't have my CC yet but it is on order and will come with five 23K burners and one 8K "simmer" burner. I don't believe that too hot is going to be an issue but the resolution or how easy you can adjust the flame would change with the size of the burner. If the dial has a range of 300 degrees of motion, you are adjusting the flame from 0-23K in 300 degrees of motion. If the burner is 8K you still have 300 dgrees of motion to adjust from 0-8K. Whether or not this is an issue, I don't know because I haven't seen an installed CC. Going by the videos from Eurostove it doesn't look like this is an issue at all. It appears that the ability to adjust the burner over its full range is very good.

thanks for the reference to Eurostove videos... just checked them out the Capital Burner looks great on high and on low with the new simmer burner, but does anyone in the tri-state area know what dealer has the Culinarian hooked up live so I can see it in person? I have seen the Viking and Wolf live at some showrooms, but unfortunately thats about it... thanks for the advice

Hi eleena , my name is Brad...and I'm a very happy owner of a Viking Range who bought last year .... And I would put my induction range up against any includingCapital and Bluestar....... Performance , fit , finish ,second to none... .
So now you someone is still buying Viking Products ...LOL

>>>"Surely, not ALL Viking appliances break or they would be long out of business.Good point. A large proportion of them work fine for years. I know somebody who has a had a problem free Viking gas range for 15 years.

Trouble is, there can be a lot of pleased Viking owners but the chances of having a problem and getting poor service have been high enough to persuade a lot of folks here that buying Viking is not worth the potential hassle. I mean, if you had a one in four chance of getting a lemon (which was GE's fridge defect rate a couple of years ago), would you buy one or recommend one?

The problem with Vikings has been similar, although we don't really have any reliable data. At one point, there were enough Viking stoves and products to be included in the annual reliability surveys by Consumer Reports, but the numbers haven't been there for last few years, so we don't have data. Viking fridges have been similarly problemmatic,

Apparently, some of this problem has been with support from distributors and dealers as well as Viking itself. Brad has written about the improved service and support for Vikings in the Bay Area when he bought his stove. And, overall, there seem to have been very few complaints about the induction ranges that Viking sells. The complaints have been about their other products.

Eleena , no worries just teasing back a little ...I knew goin in Viking's rep and in the issues around it .. Hard not to read the war stories here... I'm also the same guy who bought a Fisher and Payle dish drawer dispite reviews ... I did my due diligence ....Trust me ,for the prices of these appliances you need too !! So while my response may have felt to you defensive , it was just a way of saying its not all bad ... And yes their are more happy owners out there ... I , as JW knows , put my email out for those who had questions regarding induction and Viking... I've received more email than I could have ever emagined ... There is still much interest in Viking and products sold contrary to what these forums would lead you to believe... So I'm sorry you happened to have the remark I choose to pic on a little but that's what makes these forums fun to read .. A lil drama with a lot of knowledge ...
And to JW, much again the the elder statesman !!!! So while I don't comment to much here I'm always lurking .... Brad

I purchased a 60" culinarian with 6 burners and a 24" griddle. I t came with a small burner (left rear) which I was not expecting and they sent out a repairperson to replace it. In addition to that, I noticed that the burners are placed such that the grate surface is lower than the guards for the grille. They made up special rails for the burner grates to raise them about 3/16" and now large pots can be placed on the grates without interference.

I am very happy with their support. When our local distributor quoted 8-12 weeks for delivery, I was able to contact the company, explain that I had no ovens (our kitchen aid ranges electronics died for the final time!) and get a unit to my door on the east coast in under three weeks.

They have been very good to work with and I love the range, burners and griddle. The commercial sized oven is also wonderful, it can take a full sized cookie sheet as well as a Costco Pizza!

I own a 30" Viking Pro range and love it. The burners are very powerful. My wife loves that it boils water really fast (she is REALLY impatient). I absolutely love the broiler. I've broiled everything from fish to steaks with excellent results. It's the best I've used hands down. Also, the range has never needed a service call in the 6 years I've owned it. I can honestly say if I ever decide to get a new range it will be a Viking. Great product.